


Pieces of the Puzzle

by ScissorKidsCult



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Azula - Freeform, Firelord Zuko, Gen, Katara - Freeform, Oneshot, Zuko - Freeform, Zutara, agnikai, azulas homecoming, post sozins commet, short series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25715125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScissorKidsCult/pseuds/ScissorKidsCult
Summary: A short collection of one shots focused around Zuko, Katara, and Azula. Inlcudes the final Agni Kai and Azula's Redemption amongst other things.
Relationships: Zuko and Azula, azula and katara, zuko and katara - Relationship
Kudos: 6





	1. Azula's Homecoming

**Author's Note:**

> Hey kiddos. This is my first time posting on AO3, usually I'm a wattpad/Tumblr girl. Anyways, enjoy this, it's just some good old hot trash fresh off the press. Feel free to let me know if theres any other 'pieces' you would like me to put down in writing. - mother (pseudonym)

Its sunny when he arrives to get her. They share a few words and she notices his eyes seem solemn but there is little else to pay attention to. Her aid looks fretful and shy in the presence of the Fire Lord but her lips are sealed as they ride out of the countryside. For the first time in her short life, Azula sees the Fire Nation with pure eyes. There is no threat lurking in the trees, no taunting opponent comes from behind the brush. The fields they pass through are alive and green, and for the first time in her life they are _beautiful_.

Her brother sits opposite of her, his face unwavering. She wasn’t sure what she had expected him to be on this day. Perhaps excited? Probably nervous. But he is nothing in front of her, nothing except patient. What he is waiting for, she knows deep in her heart but her mind pushes the thought away. The countryside ends abruptly and suddenly her ears are filled with more sound than she can ever remember hearing. Its hard to make out but she is sure she can hear laughter. Children play wildly in the streets, the markets are filled with people. Here, too, she realizes isn’t what she expected. Before the year of her demise she would have expected a parade. Even now she can’t understand why the streets aren’t watching her closely. Then she realizes. No one knows the princess is coming home.

By the time they reach the palace it is morning again, and the grand structure is just waking. Guards are filing in and out of place as the shift changes, servants run about franticly. Her aid resigns to the servants quarters and it is the last Azula will see of her for a while. Its exciting at first but when Zuko takes her hand she can’t help but flinch. She is alone now, with her mistakes and her greatest regrets as he leads her up the palace steps. They tread slowly up the stairs, taking each carefully. The sun is kissing the top of the sky by the time they stand at the entrance.

Her breath leaves her chest for a moment. She’s home at last. There is no war at the foot of the palace, and her father will not be here to fill her head with lies. Her mothers face will not haunt her at the end of the palaces halls. Instead, it is uncle Iroh who greets her. He pulls her to his chest, his voice filling the entry way as he delights in her presence. He says a few words before quieting himself as he moves to the side. She can see the throne, and the place where she used to worship at her fathers hand. The walls are lined with the mark of the Fire Nation, but beside them lies a mark of the Water Tribes, the seal of the Earth Kingdom, and there is even a portrait of the Avatar, his face less bright than she remembers.

In the corner of her eye she can see Iroh and her brother exchange a glance and soon she whisked out of the throne room as they continue their journey to the heart of the palace. Children’s toys are strewn through the halls and she is surprised by the amount of blue that has been sewn into the silks lining the halls. She knows that Zuko has married, and she is sorry she couldn’t be there. He has told her of his children, and even brought pictures of them, but she is finding it hard to shake the young image of her brother that she used to know. It’s different to see him here, as the Fire Lord. She has grown accustomed to the Zuko who came to visit her so often in her quiet retreat. They are different people entirely she is realizing.

Suddenly she hears it. The laughter of children and the splashing of water. Iroh hurries ahead and turns into the garden. Zuko takes her hands and guides her cautiously to the entryway, stopping carefully before they enter. There is a woman standing in the pond, two children run amuck around her, their hair dripping wet as they clap their hands and prance about.

Iroh makes a loud noise and the children pause momentarily, turning to face her. One looks just like Zuko, she swears and the other is familiar but she isn’t sure why. And then it makes sense. The water falls to the ground and the face of her defeat is staring back at her, smiling.

“Auntie Azula!” The boy and girl run towards her, their little hands outstretched. She can feel tears beginning to well in her eyes for the first time in a long time as they cling to her robes and pull at her sleeves. In the blink of an eye she is adorned with kisses and flowers from the garden. Iroh and Zuko pull them away carefully and she can see Katara standing in front of her. She pulls Azula into a hug and it is as if the weight of the stars is pulled free from her shoulders.

“Welcome home Azula.” Katara’s voice is calm and more mature than she remembers and though Azula can see the pain behind her eyes, the anger she felt before is now gone. _She is forgiven._


	2. Agni Kai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko's view of the final battle.

Their fight wouldn’t last long, Azula was slipping away into insanity and Zuko was a better fighter than he had been before. She was angrier though, far more volatile than he ever remembered her being. Her eyes were sunken, yes, but they were wild too.

She stood before him, her hair on end as her body twinkled with electricity. He should not have taunted her, she had never resisted before, how could he have expected her to now? A wave of calm washed over him as he summoned the lessons Iroh had taught him. Her fingers pointed outward and he sucked in a breath, his eyes burning as he fought the urge to even blink. And then it happened. A slight jolt of her wrist and the faintest flick of her chin.

This was the Azula he knew. Family meant everything, even if that loyalty was sewn alongside hatred. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t kill Zuko. Not before cutting him to the bone. White light coursed through her arm and shot across the courtyard. _Katara_.

It wasn’t so much a thought as it was the will of his soul. He and Azula both had taken so much from her, she would not die by their hand now. He urged his body forward, leaping into the line of fire. The spark cut into his chest, scorching his skin, curling deep into his bones. He rocked back and forth in the sky before falling to the ground, seizing under the sky. For the first time in his life, he felt cold.

He could hear them fighting but he couldn’t offer Katara so much as a word of encouragement. He couldn’t even see her. He lay helpless, a victim to his wound and his mind. Visions of his mother played in his eyes. He could see her holding Azula when they were children. The way she would comb her hair, and then his. The way she would look at them when she thought they weren’t paying attention. He could see his sister, alone in the palace halls. Her figure alive against the red walls as she recited war strategy, so desperate to impress their father. He could see Mai and Ty Lee whispering on Ember Island, and the way Azula looked when she heard them. All of these things made Azula. As hard as he tried to blame her, it was impossible to deny. He could have let her go first when mother played with them. He could have taken her to tea with Iroh instead of leaving her alone in those halls. He could have been her friend.

He can hear her screams. He can hear her vile words as she lashes out. Katara, he notices slowly, is silent. She was so loud usually, her words digging into him as he tried to make amends. He recalled the way she had been so outspoken when they had found the man who killed her mother. The words couldn’t come fast enough. But here, in a blur of blue, she is silent under the red sky. Suddenly he knows why. She has won, and she is with him now. The hole in his chest pools with water and the ice in his cavity bleeds out into her palms.

He can’t find the words to thank her but he doesn’t have to, she knows. Katara says nothing as she eases his pain. And then, for no reason at all, she takes his head into her lap, her hands soft against the burning sides of his temple. The blood colored night fades from his view as he sinks into her grasp. _It is over, and he is saved._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're interested you can find me on Tumblr and wattpad under the same name, I also post atla stuff on my Tumblr chattahoochiecoochie. Party on, garth.


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